Penn & Teller: Difference between revisions

The pair have a wide fraud-busting streak, which gets its widest exposure in their Showtime TV show, ''[[Penn and Teller Bullshit]]''. A running theme in their work is truth, lies and deception, with many parts of their stage magic routine built around [[Lampshading]] the fact that magic is all about deceiving the audience. Many of their tricks also play on the audience's visceral reaction to tricks that ''appear'' dangerous but are in fact completely safe, celebrating the fantasy that two guys can [[Bullet Catch|shoot guns into each other's mouths]] and emerge from it completely unharmed.

 

* ''Penn & Teller's Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends'', a 1987 straight-to-video release including punchlines for seven different tricks to play on one's friends and instructions for performing them.

* ''Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread'', a 1987 Showtime made-for-TV movie about how a stupid magic trick saves the human race from being [[Humanity on Trial|wiped out by aliens for being redundant]].

* ''Phobophilia'', a filmed 1995 stage show where Penn and Teller perform various tricks and skits exploring [[Primal Fear|Primal Fears]]. Noteworthy for including a full version of their famous double [[Bullet Catch]] trick.

* ''Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour'', a three-part 2003 documentary miniseries where they travel to China, Egypt and India to study the traditional culture of magic. [[The Voiceless|Notably]], Teller talks twice in the Egypt episode.

* ''Penn & Teller: Fool Us'', a 2011 ITV series, hosted by [[Jonathan Ross]], where a variety of magicians attempt to fool Penn and Teller with tricks of their own. Those who succeed get to perform on their stage in [[Las Vegas]].

* ''[[Penn and Teller Tell a Lie]]'', a 2011 [[Discovery Channel]] show where each episode presents six or seven unbelievable stories, one of which is a lie.

** ''[[Fantasia 2000]]'', where they presented the Sorcerer's Apprentice segment

 

* [[Alter Ego Acting]]: Penn & Teller each have a consistent on-stage persona which is not the same as what they're like in real life.

* [[Black Comedy]]: Used in several of their tricks. The "Water Tank" trick, where Penn attempts to do a card trick while Teller is supposedly holding his breath in a tank full of water, is a great example. In the fictional narrative of the trick, Penn botches the card trick and Teller drowns in the tank as a result, which is pretty horrifying. But the way the entire trick is put together around it, including Penn's various lines ("No, screw it, he's braindead"), the audience volunteers who just don't know ''what'' to make of the whole thing, Penn's mock eulogy for Teller (where he claims to be planning a solo tour to be entitled simply "Penn"), and especially the final punchline ( {{spoiler|Penn reaches into the tank to turn Teller's limp body around, revealing the audience member's signed card ''inside Teller's face mask'' - "AND IS ''THAT'' YOUR CARD?"}}), is priceless.